News from CES 2012: Blackberry gives you Free live traffic, new BBM & travel app– in the upgraded OS to 7.1

If you are one of the lucky Blackberry users that is running version 7.0 you are in for a treat !

The new BlackBerry® 7.1 OS has some amazing features as well as updates to the BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) and introducing BlackBerry® Traffic™ and BlackBerry® Travel™ apps.

and you dont even have to wait to get the new updates as BlackBerry 7.1 will begin rolling out from carriers around the world beginning today and over the coming weeks. check this out for instructions: http://us.blackberry.com/update/

The new feature called BlackBerry® Tag that can change the way BlackBerry users share information and content. Simply tapping the NFC enabled BlackBerry® smartphone against another NFC enabled BlackBerry smartphone, users can instantly invite a friend to BBM, exchange contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content, and they can also pair their BlackBerry smartphone with an NFC enabled Bluetooth® device.

Additional features:

allow users to personalize their experience even more with support for animated avatars (animated GIFs)

a dozen new and fun emoticons to spice up conversations,

ability to customize chat bubbles with different colors.

add customized personal messages of up to 160 characters in their online Profile, (more than double the length supported in previous versions).

Users can also now set the picture for their BBM avatar directly from the camera app – simply snap a picture and select “Set as BBM Display Picture” from the menu.

Turn BlackBerry smartphone into a mobile hotspot that can be shared by up to 5 Wi-Fi® -enabled devices, including laptops and tablets.

users to make Wi-Fi calls from their BlackBerry smartphone that don’t eat into their airtime minutes.

Getting to any location is now so much easier with the new BlackBerry Traffic (version 3.0), a free app from RIM that is being released today. BlackBerry Traffic determines a user’s estimated time of arrival (ETA) based on current traffic conditions, and now includes hands-free turn-by-turn voice guidance.

Got a BlackBerry Curve 9360 or 9380 smartphone ? You will find a nice surprise with the BlackBerry 7.1 OS update in the form of an FM radio. The FM radio circuitry is already built in to the Curve 9360 and 9380 models and BlackBerry 7.1 provides users with a new app that allows them to tune in and enjoy local FM radio stations. Listening to the FM radio does not require a data plan or use data services.